Over the next two weeks the casting team will see 2,200 people in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Belfast and Galway. Soap star wannabes had one minute to impress casting queen Louise Kiely.

First in the queue yesterday was Heidi Ellen Love from Cork, who braved the elements from 5am.

She said: “It was lashing. I had a blanket over my head to keep out the rain. But I don’t mind. I’m looking forward to auditioning. I’m not too nervous.”

Phil Mitchell lookalike Dennis Murphy from Carlow waited calmly at the gates of the gigantic Former John Player Factory on South Circular Road in Dublin from 6am but once it was time to take the long walk to the casting location he began to get the jitters.